Megan Kaspar On Investing In Digital Style

Megan Kaspar, the co-founder and managing director of FirstLight, is well known as a savvy investor and trailblazer within the digital vogue realm. In October 2021, she made headlines as the primary particular person to showcase NFT clothes throughout a video interview. Kaspar’s pioneering spirit additionally earned her a function in Haute Living’s Miami issue carrying a digital ensemble by luxurious vogue model Fendi.

Kaspar has been a crypto fanatic from the start and is now a founding member of Red DAO, a corporation centered on vogue and blockchain. She is a constant investor in main tasks like DressX, supporting the intersection of vogue and expertise. Kaspar is tirelessly advocating for the potential of the rising motion and is dedicated to educating others about its potentialities.

As a 2023 NFT100 honoree, nft now lately sat down with Kaspar to debate her technique when investing in digital vogue and her ideas on the way forward for the area.

nft now: What’s your funding thesis or method behind digital vogue?

Megan Kaspar: Tokenization of the world’s belongings is occurring over the following 20 years. There are 4 use instances which might be the north star of how I have a look at the chance — not particularly how I make investments, however the overarching theme.

The primary is sustainability. Since 1950, consumption of stuff has elevated 14 occasions. If all the world’s inhabitants shared the life-style habits of immediately’s common American, we might require the equal of 5 Earths to accommodate us. Millennials, Gen Zs, and Gen Alphas are massively contributing to the optimistic shift to dematerialization, spending extra money and time in digital actuality.

The second is effectivity. We’re higher capable of leverage client knowledge via profiles, shopping historical past, deserted carts, purchases, and returns. Subsequently we are able to promote the suitable merchandise on the excellent time on the best channel. We’re going in direction of a mannequin of no extra over-manufacturing. Utilizing AI to raised perceive knowledge would enable [marketing] to be extra environment friendly, particularly via extra particular devoted channels, like a pockets.

Third is personalization. Customers have gotten extra individualized, they usually wish to be seen. There may be an upward development in micro collections. Clothes is being manufactured on-demand, which additionally contributes to no extra over-manufacturing. Gen Z and Gen Alpa’s identities are so rooted on-line; they wish to specific themselves in a hyper-personalized manner. Platforms just like the Mindbody app allow you to hyper-personalize your gender. You possibly can hyper-define and present in methods that you may not articulate or specific bodily.

Lastly, disruptive enterprise fashions. Information is the brand new oil. Web2 is marked with a buyer/client mannequin the place you’re restricted within the visibility of all the pieces you personal. Web3 is an proprietor mannequin the place you personal your belongings, knowledge, and data and may translate right into a wear2earn economic system. The web2 client is shifting to a Web3 proprietor.

nft now: What do you envision the function of digital vogue within the subsequent cycle? What’s going to it take for digital vogue to go mainstream?

MK: Capitalizing on early narratives is the best technique to make 100x in crypto. Sensible belongings (real-world belongings on chain) are one in all 5 rising traits I’m paying essentially the most consideration to, and the digital vogue sector will play a big function within the subsequent innovation wave of Web3.